Protection of civilians:

Government and UN to cooperate

The Government and UN Agencies agreed to work within a spirit of cooperation to assess more accurately the needs of civilians and measures taken for their protection by the Government at a meeting Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama held yesterday with Heads of UN Agencies based in Colombo.

The UN Resident Coordinator along with representatives of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and the Chief Security Advisor of the UN Office in Colombo, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chief of Defence Staff Air Vice Marshal Donald Perera, Senior Officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry participated at the meeting.

The Defence Secretary maintained that the casualties caused by the LTTE are under-reported and that some international agencies should be mindful of the responsibilities cast on them in disseminating information.

He also said that the LTTE continues to use children as suicide cadres. The UNICEF representative expressed his desire to receive regular updates on the use of children by the LTTE.

The UN officials appreciated the arrangements made by the Government to receive IDPs and agreed to work in cooperation with it.

The Foreign Minister appreciated the UN role in Sri Lanka, especially in addressing humanitarian issues and supplementing counter-terrorism efforts of the Government.

A statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday also said:

The difficulty in differentiating civilians from LTTE cadres in the conflict zone is being carefully addressed whilst the casualty figures reported from areas where fighting is continuing are distorted.

It was also observed that inaccurate accounts of the situation should be avoided at all costs and the UN will continue to assist the government to ensure the welfare of civilians in the conflict zone in terms of their rescue, resettlement and rehabilitation.